I have enjoyed developing Needlework Patterns since 1995.
I'm very thankful for the help of God, and the advice of
my husband and children when drawing or finishing the
designs.
I love to spend time with my family,
grow flowers, read, and enjoy the goodness of God.
Thank you for visiting!
Angie
"Corot, the great landscape painter once
said, "When I find myself in one of Nature's beautiful places, I grow
angry with my pictures." Pleased with them in his studio, the artist was
humbled in the sight of Nature's glory. Judging ourselves in the light of
the world, we may easily find grounds for personal satisfaction, but to
judge ourselves in the light of the Lord, to measure ourselves by the
divine standard, is to put our pride to shame." (Choice Gleanings)
I give all the credit to the Lord for helping me to draw and
design, as my work is imperfect and His is perfect. He is the Master
Designer! He paints the
beautiful sunsets, perfumes the gorgeous roses, and creates the
child carried by his mother.
He is also very merciful. His last gift to man was that of
a babe, born in a manger, to bear the sins of His people. What
His Son did perfectly satisfied a Holy God. Please read
God's Simple Plan of Salvation
to find out more.
To know Jesus as your Savior means that you have
peace with God, and the promises of God found in the Bible are yours
for eternity.
You never have to fear death nor the penalty of
paying for your sins. You receive in this life a Friend who loves
you like no other, and true Peace and meaning to life- that we are
created to have fellowship with Him.
When I was young, I wanted to know how God
spoke to us. No one in my family went to church, so they didn't know or
couldn't answer.
On Sundays I would get out my organ and sing a song, pretending I was in
church.
As I got older, I decided to stop believing in
God. I thought God must not be there, if I couldn't hear Him.
My parents divorced when I was 10, and my
troubles grew then. Spending weekends with my Dad, a practicing alcoholic, was
difficult. My Mom did her best to work and provide for us. My brother, sister,
and I were split up. It was difficult that my Dad wanted the other 2, but not
me. (Leaving me on the doorstep while he grabbed the other 2 kids, pushed my
Mom onto the ground, and took them left me with that impression).
A close family member initiated me to smoke cigarettes
when I was 11, and pot when I was a teen. Thankfully, my Mom made sure made
sure that I had love, food, and shelter. She helped me to finish high-school
and to finish cosmetology training.
When I was 20, I met my first husband on a bus trip,
and after a time of writing him, married him and moved across the country to
Seattle. The drugs he supplied became an escape from
life for me. (Drugs and alcohol are an escape from life).
This brought depression, naturally, and a constant state of loneliness. I
remember feeling that life was not enough to make me happy. I'm thankful that
even in that time, God had His hand on me and was watching over me.
About that time a friend (that I had partied with
in high-school) had started to write to me. She had married and started a
family. As she wrote to me, she told me about Jesus, but I didn't want to hear
it. The life I was living had no place for God. I was into art, music, and
so-called friends. I was as far as I could be from Him.
Her words about Jesus embarrassed me, and I tore her letters up as she wrote,
"Praise Jesus," and things of faith on the envelope. I felt that she had been
brainwashed into those beliefs.
When my husband and I moved south to Georgia, I was working as a hairstylist when a man tried to
witness to me. He asked me where I thought I would go when I die. I was very
defensive and felt that it was too personal to ask. However, I knew at the
time that I had no answer.
After we divorced after a year, I met a man who
was nice but was a heavy
drinker (a pint of vodka a day). After a while, there was an occasion where he became very angry with me. He hit me
in the head, and I saw stars. I was shaking very badly.
I went to my bedroom and prayed, "God, if you are there, please help me."
That was my prayer, over and over. I was not self-sufficient any more- only He
could help me. I couldn't see any other way out.
My friend faithfully still wrote me, and I'm sure I sounded bitter as I wrote
about my life. She wrote back that there was Someone who suffered much more
than I ever could, and that Jesus suffered on the cross for me because He
loved me so much.
Some people are saved through a threat of hell and fire- I was saved by His
love for me.
When I went home for a visit, my Mom suggested
that I go to see her. I drove out to her home in the country in April,
1991. I remember that the sun was shining on the fields, and feeling happy and
at peace.
As we talked, the subject of the Lord
came up. I had many questions and doubts, but she asked
me if I would like to be saved. That was foreign to me as I didn't know
the meaning of being saved or even how to pray. I was thinking about what I would
lose from my former life, rather than what I would gain.
But realizing the sin in my life brought
tears to my eyes, and I knew that I didn't want to sit on the fence any longer.
She prayed, and I repeated... because I
didn't know the words to say, "Jesus, please forgive my sins... please take me
to Heaven with you when I die. Please save me."
That's when I first believed in Jesus, or knew that there was more to the
crucifix I had seen on my Mom's wall growing up. He is a real person, though we can't see Him. Light
and peace surrounded me, as well as a new faith in Him, knowing that He would
be with me. I was "dead" in my sins before, which was why I was so unhappy.
When I went back to Georgia, I began to go to
a Lutheran church, by myself. I stopped drinking and smoking, and refused drugs when
"friends" asked me. ("Friends" that didn't stick around long).
In 1992, I made the decision to move back home.
The Lord blessed me with a family- how thankful I was that He saved me before
I had children! The Mom I would have been without Him is not something I
like to think about.
The greatest blessing has been that He has blessed me with His presence.
His presence has been such a comfort, a joy, a peace- that I never knew
before. Now I have eternal salvation, adoption into His family, and I know how
He speaks to us- through His word.
He
suffered on the cross for us, taking the place which we deserved for our sins,
to give us His place in Heaven. I will never know how much He suffered for me,
but I am thankful He did, because it was my "only way" to God. He is the door
through which we must go to enter God's presence. I praise God that when I cried to Him to help
me, He showed me the way that I had to come to Him- through His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Thankfully, I will be with Him forever, and I don't have to worry when I die. He will hold my hand, whatever may come.
If you die in your sleep tonight,
or in a car accident tomorrow- where will you be in eternity? There are no
choices made after death. The one who rejects Jesus as his/her Savior in this
life will not make it to Heaven, but to the place of everlasting torment.
Please take care
of your salvation so that you can rest secure. I promise you that you will
never regret it. He will give you more blessings than you can count. Whatever
you have been searching for in this life, He will perfectly fill that need.
I tell my children that He created us with a
hole in our heart, and many people try to fill that hole with other things,
but it can only be filled by Himself.
Each day is a gift we enjoy from God, but we don't
know if we will enjoy tomorrow.
Thank you for reading this. I hope that
through it, He will draw you closer to Him. Begin by reading His word, the
Bible. A good place to begin reading is the gospel of John in the New
Testament.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved..." Acts 16:31.
